Automatic fire-extinguisher.



No. 728,280. l l PATB'NTED MAYjlQ, 1,903'.

R. -wl NBwToN.- f AUTOMATIC HRB EXTINGUISHBB.

A APPLIOATIOK FILED DBO. 31. 189.7. n A No MODEL. l f

UNITED STATEs.

Patented May 19, 1903.

OFFICE.

PATENT ROBERT w. NEwTON, O-F PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND, AssIGNOR TO THE GENERAL FIRE EXTINGUISHER COMPANY, OF NEwYORK, N. Y.,.A OOR- PORATION OF NEW YORK.

QAUTOMATIO FIRE-ExTlNcuIsl-IER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 728,280, dated May 19, 1903. Aprilipanonneanember31.1897. serinrojmve. (Nomaden To a/'ZZ whom t may concern.:

Be it known that'I; ROBERT W. NEWTON, of the city and'county of Providence and State of Rhode Island, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Automatic Fire- Extinguishers, (for which Ihave Obtained a patent in Great Britain, No. 12,775, dated June 10, 1896, and a patent in France, No. 262,019, dated December 9, 1896;) and I do hereby declare the following specification, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, forming a part of the same, to be a full, clear, and exact description thereof.

This invention has reference `to improve-- ments in the construction of automatic ireextinguishers adapted to be released by the action of heat and to distribute water in the form of spray over alarge area. I

Automatic tire-extinguishers form the most reliable protection against great loss by fire. With an intelligently-designed installation by which the full force of the water will when a fire starts act on any sprinkler that may be opened by the heat the firewill be instantly arrested, confined toIthe place where it started, and quicklyextinguished, provided the sprinklers or automatic fire-extinguishers are sufficiently sensitive lto heat to open` quickly and throwaspray of water around the freshlystarting fire. u l One object of this invention is to so construct a sprinkler thatl therising temperature caused by a re inthe vicinity ofl the sprinkler will act more readily on the fusible solder and release the valve'so promptly that a mere incipient tire will openr the nearest sprinkler and cause a spray of water .to inclose and eX- tinguish the fire.

Another obj ect of jthle inventionis to expose thefusible joint of. theautomatic sprinkler to the rising currents of heated air caused by an incipient lire, and lthereby more quickly release the valve.

Another object of the invention is to produce an automatic sprinkler which while much more sensitive to heat firmly resists the pressure on the valve, `is not liable to leak, and knot liable to stick when partly opened; and another object ofthe invention is to so construct the soldered holding devices that they may be easily attached to the valveholding device and new ones substituted after a fire.

To these ends the invention consists in the peculiar and novelY construction of an automatic tire-extinguisher or sprinkler shown in the drawings and hereinafter more fully described.

The terms automatic fire-extinguisher, sprinkler, and automatic sprinkler for the purposeV of this specification are synonymous.

Figure 1 is aside View of my improved au tomatic lire-extinguisher, showing the same in the closed ,positiomm Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view ofthe automatic fire-extinguisher at right angles through the vertical y block and a modified'form of frame having the inclined vertical sides secured together by solder fusible at a low temperature. Fig. 7 is a side view, partly in section, showing `the modified frame in connection with the hollow block and the thrust-struts. Fig. Sis an end view of the hollow block, the struts, and the modified form of overlapping frame.

In the drawings, .A .designates a screwthreaded nozzle adapted to be secured in the usual pipe-fittings used in a lire-extinguisher installation. When open, it forms the discharge-outlet from the system. This vnozzle is. provided with the angeB,"froin which extends the frame C, havingjthe'conventional y form of a Gothic arch,thecone D forming the keystone to the arch.' Against the cone D is secured the dished deiector E by means of a nut F', engaged with the adj ustingscrew F, the upper end of which forms thethrustsupport of the hollow block G, formed of sheet metal, so as to allow the heated air to pass around and through the same. The block G forms the support for the struts H, which incline toward each other and support the valve I, by which the discharge-opening of the nozzle A is closed. To firmly support the valve I against internal pressure in the installation, the lower ends of the struts H H, forming the base, must be held against spreading apart. To do this effectually, I use two forms of frames, one form being shown enlarged in Figs. 3, 4, and 5 and the other in Figs. 6, 7, and 8.

Referring now to all the iigures except Figs.

6,7,and 8,K K designate two U-shaped plates of sheet metal. These are placed one on top of the other with the arms overlapping and are soldered together with the solder used in automatic nre-extinguishers, which is fusible at a temperature but little higher than the temperature normally existing in the room to be protected. When secured together, the

two U -shaped plates form a rectangularframe against the inner end pieces of which the struts H H bear. The plates K have the lips L bent down on each end to hold the frame in place. The solder joint in the frame is strengthened by the use of the balls M, which also insure the separation of the plates as soon as the solder is weakened by heat. The balls M M are inserted into holes in the arms of the U-shaped plates K, made slightly concave. When the solder weakens, the strain on the opposite ends of the two U-shaped plates K K, forming the frame, causes the balls to turn and enter between the plates, thus separating the soldered surfaces.

In the modified form shown in Figs. 6, 7, and 8 the plates K are vertical. They are bent up into the U shape, and their vertical hat sides are secured together by solder. They are preferably bent so that the solder joint is inclined to facilitate the ready separation of the parts. The balls M M may be used with this solder joint in the same manner as in the frame of the preferred form. In the frame of the modified form a portion of the vertical plates at each end are bent at right angles to form the plates n n, which rest on the block G. The lips Z l are bent over the plate of the block G to secure the frame.

The soldered portions of the U-shaped plates K K', forming the retaining-frame, are placed outside the block G, so that the heated air can pass between them and the parts of the sprinkler to which the frame is connected, as is shown in Figs. 5 and S by arrows. By thus separating the solder joint from the sprinkler the joint is much more readily affected by the rising heated air, and the sprinkler is more sensitive, being released much quicker.

An automatic hre-extinguisher installation provided with automatic sprinklers such as herein described will protect a cotton-picker room, or a room in which naphtha or other gas is liable to explode against loss by fire, such sprinklers being so sensitive to heat that an explosion will instantly release most of the sprinklers and arrest any fire in its incipiency.

Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim is 1. In an automatic fire extinguisher, the combination, with the nozzle, of a valve for closing the nozzle, athrust-block, the inclined struts and a separate two-part frame secured together with fusible solder and having flat end portions resting upon the thrust-block and constituting means for engaging the lower ends of said struts, substantially as described.

2. In an automatic sprinkler, the combination, with the nozzle, the frame, the distributer, and the valve for closing the nozzle, of a strut, a thrust-block, and a separate twopart frame secured together by solder and provided with lips for securing said frame to the thrust-block,substantially as described.

3. The combination, as herein set forth, with the nozzle, the arched frame, the distributer and the valve-disk of an automatic sprinkler, of the adjusting-screw F, the hollow block G, the struts H, H, and the U-shaped plates secured together by solder the soldered parts of which extend outside of the hollow block whereby the heated air more Areadily aifects the solder, as described.

et. In an automatic fire-extinguisher, the combination with the nozzle, the valve, disk for closing the nozzle-outlet the arched frame C, the cone D, the screw F, the distributer E secured by the nut F', of the hollow block G the interior and exterior of which is exposed to the air, the struts H, H, and the frame composed of the U -shaped plates, secured together by solder and provided with the lips, by which the plate is secured to the hollow block, as described.

5. In an automatic fire-extinguisher, the combination with the nozzle A, the arched frame B, the valve I for closing the nozzle, the screw F and a deecting distributer, of the struts H, H, the hollow metal block G,

Vand the frame K, consisting of bent vertical plates secured together at the adjacent ver tical planes by solder fusible at a low temperature,said soldered plates extending along the sides of the hollow block and away from the same, whereby the heated air has free access to the soldered plates and the sprinkler is released more quickly on the breaking out of a fire, as described.

6. In an automatic nre-extinguisher, the combination with the nozzle, of a valve for closing the nozzle, a thrust-block, two struts having their upper ends inclined toward each other and engaging the valve and their lower ends resting on said thrust-block, and a separate two-part frame having iiat end portions resting upon the thrust-block and forming IOO IIO

abutments for, engaging the lowerfend's of said struts, and preventing said ends lfrom spreading` apart, the parts of said frame be-V ing held together byfusible solder, substantially as described.

7. In an automatic re-extinguisher, the

combination 'with the nozzle, of avalrvefor'l closing` the nozzle, 'a' thr11st'.-block, struts as H H, U-shaped plates having their arms secured together by fusible solder and forming a rectangular framehavingvlat end portions resting upon the thrust-block Vand constitut-V ing means, for holding said struts, substantially as described.

8. v In Aaufautomatic.,- combin'ation'with the nozzle,iof a valve for closing said nozzle,- struts as H H, `a thrust-Y block, and 'a separate frame formed of tworv plates secured together by fusible solder and 'having fiat end portions resting uponv the thrust-blockand forming abutments for engaging the ends of said struts andpreventing them from spreadingapart, substantially as described.

` ROBERT W.'NEWTON. Witnesses: f

-R.'A.BATES,

W. H: THURsToN.

flic-extinguisher, lthe Y 

